Texas Corners Brewing Co. is within months of opening, owners say

Updated on Nov 28, 2014 at 08:23 AM EST

Dan and Bill Schultz stand on the steps of what will become the Texas Corners Brewing Co. Texas Corners Brewing Co., owned by the Schultz family of Mattawan, is expected to open in two to three months.

Brewing equipment is shown in a building on Schultz Fruitridge Farm in Mattawan. Texas Corners Brewing Co., owned by the Schultz family of Mattawan, is expected to open in two to three months.

Kegs are shown in a building on Schultz Fruitridge Farm in Mattawan. Texas Corners Brewing Co., owned by the Schultz family of Mattawan, is expected to open in two to three months.

Brewing equipment is shown in a building on Schultz Fruitridge Farm in Mattawan. Texas Corners Brewing Co., owned by the Schultz family of Mattawan, is expected to open in two to three months.

Texas Corners Brewing Co., owned by the Schultz family of Mattawan, is expected to open in two to three months.

Workers pour concrete at what will become the Texas Corners Brewing Co. Texas Corners Brewing Co., owned by the Schultz family of Mattawan, is expected to open in two to three months.

TEXAS TOWNSHIP, MI
A Mattawan-area family that has seen three decades of success in farming is months away from opening a farm-to-table restaurant and microbrewery in
Texas Township
.

The Schultz family, owners of Schultz Fruitridge Farms Inc.,
plan to open Texas Corners Brewing Co.
in the former Christ the King church, 6970 Texas Drive in Texas Township in the next two to three months, said Bill Schultz.

Schultz farms full-time with his brother, Dan, and parents Bill and Denise on the farm started by his grandparents in 1951.

Schultz, 32, said the business owners are waiting to receive their microbrewer's license and plan to open the farm-to-table restaurant and microbrewery with their own beer, their own hard cider and local wine.

"We're going to try to incorporate as much farm-to-table as possible in our venue," Schultz said. "We are the farmer. It's just a natural progression. We enjoy dealing directly with the public. It's very gratifying putting smiles on peoples faces, making their families happy. It feeds the soul."

Schultz said the restaurant will have 12 beers and ciders on tap, including Texas Corner Brewing Co.'s own hard cider, which the Schultz pressed for the first time this year. Eventually they plan to make their own wine under the name Apple Blossom Winery.

Plans for the Texas Corners Brewing Co.
stalled last year after a car crashed
into the former township hall on the same property as the church that the Schultzes planned to use as a banquet room. Instead, the space now is a parking lot.

Schultz said Texas Corners Brewing Co. has managers in place, an executive chef on board with a planned full kitchen and a brewer lined up. The family plans to serve local food including food they have grown, like asparagus, apples, peaches and cherries, in the menu.

Schultz said the brewpub, which will have a capacity to seat around 70 in the century-old church, will serve mostly local, wholesome, quality ingredients. It will be open for lunch and dinner times.

"In Michigan, that can be seasonal at times," Schultz said. "It's not always possible, but from our own production and from my farming friends, I have enough connections within the industry to source just about anything."

The Schultzes have seen a taste of success with alcohol in pressing hard cider for the first time this year. Schultz teamed up with several area cider makers after obtaining a small winemaker's license.

It was something the family had talked about making for a while.

"In the back of our minds it had always been a neat, value-added idea," Schultz said.

Schultz said he decided to try making hard cider after seeing how popular it was on vacations to England and Australia.

"I thought to myself, you know what, I think this might be something we could do," Schultz said. "If somebody has to do it, why not be the source. Why not be the farmer itself? It should be us."

The family dedicated 1,500 gallons of their cider for hard cider this year. In a typical season, the Schultzes will make 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of apple cider.

"It can be intimidating," Schultz said. "You take a perfectly good batch of fresh cider, and you throw some yeast in it and say, 'Let's hope it turns out.'"

Schultz said their first batch of hard cider included 12 varieties of apples. The first batch included a semi-dry cider, a dry cider and a cherry apple cider. Feedback from the first batch was "overwhelmingly positive," with the cherry apple being the No. 1 seller.

Schultz said he relied heavily on others in the industry to press his cider, using other producers' knowledge and equipment to press, ferment, carbonate, bottle and keg.

"The (cider and brewing industries have) a lot of camaraderie," Schultz said. "They support each other because if one person wins, we all win. We need to grow the industry and get the word out."